Coming Kingly Son-in-Law: Don't Provoke the First Daughter - Chapter 133

Chapter 133 Summon From His Majesty

Being summoned by the imperial family might not be a bad thing, but it was definitely not a good thing if it happened at a time when the people across the capital were suffering

“Qiang, you are a clever girl. You know why the imperial family wants me at a time like this. The disease raging in the capital is beyond what the imperial doctors can do. They want me as a last resort,” said Gu Huaian with a faint smile.

Gu Qiang knew what he meant; Gu Huaian was not sure he could save the day. He learned the knowledge about medicine all by himself, not from any master, which meant he was not a professional.

Working for the imperial family was different from serving the common folks. One step wrong and he would be doomed.

How could Gu Qiang not know it?

At noon, a fine built sedan left the Xiaoyao Mountain. Inside the sedan, Gu Huaian had two cups of tea and then lifted the hangings of the window. He looked outside and then turned inwards to Gu Qiang, who was also having tea. “You don’t have to come with me. Something had been cast into stone already,” he said to Gu Qiang.

Gu Qiang’s lips puckered into a line; she knew what she wanted to do.

Once past many extravagant buildings and palaces, the sedan stopped at a pavilion.

The Emperor and Empress were sitting in there leisurely having tea. When they caught the sight of Gu Huaian, the Emperor hurriedly moved forward to him with a big smile on his face before he could curtsy. It was a big welcome.

Standing aside, Gu Qiang felt herself soaked in a cold sweat.

Why did the Emperor suddenly become so nice? There must be a reason behind the warm welcome.

“Mr. Gu, you saved my son’s life, which proved your ability. You know there is a plague going on in the capital, but all my imperial doctors could do nothing about it. Now you are our only hope,” said the Emperor, with a great deal of hope in his eyes.

Gu Huaian let out a slight smile, then he rose up and said, “You are flattering me, Your Majesty. I am only a nobody. I don’t think I am up to something as important as this.”

The Emperor and the Empress’s faces grimed. Actually, for anyone who had common sense, he would have known what the Emperor had asked for. But Gu Huaian refused his request anyway.

Nobody could reject the imperial family, that’s like an insult.

Then the Emperor fell back to his chair, his voice became cold, “Let me get it straight with you. If you can’t find a cure to the disease, I will kill everyone in your family.”

Gu Qiang gasped, but she still remained calm on her face.

“Your Majesty, this won’t help. Nobody doesn’t want our people to recover. If you put pressure upon my brother this way, he will only be afraid of failing the task instead of focusing on it,” said Gu Qiang, making two steps forward.

Before the Emperor could say anything, the Empress, Su, who sat beside him let out a sneer. She took the cup, her long golden fake nails shining under the sun, and spoke in a tone dripping acid, “So you mean you will just let the people perish and die? Luoping, do you know what you are talking about?”

Gu Huaian pulled her sleeves, signaling her to stop.

This was not the first time somebody wanted his life and living any longer would only make her worry. So if he could save the people this time, it would be a good thing; if not, he didn’t mind being killed for it.

“Your Highness, if you have to go so ugly with it, I also want to make myself clear. Why don’t you kill all the imperial doctors since none of them could address the disease? Why did you only order my brother to do it with a threat of death?” asked Gu Qiang, standing up straight, as if she didn’t care what the consequences would be.

Was she not afraid? Of course she was.

She knew her identity mattered nothing to these people.

The Emperor and Empress looked at each other, and then turned to Gu Qiang.

“Fine, I will take your advice. Just do as much as you can do, Mr. Gu. If you could address this issue, I will give you a big rise.”

After finishing his words, he stood up and prepared to take his leave, as if being afraid that Gu Huaian would eat his words. But Gu Huaian still managed to let his voice heard. “If I found the cure to the disease, I would like to ask you for something, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor froze up at his words. The Empress quickly stood up to hold him and answered back in an icy tone, “How dare you push your luck! Who do you think you are? You are not our only option…”

But she suddenly stopped after seeing the fearful stare from the Emperor, who turned back to Gu Huaian, and accepted his request, “Okay, just do as you say.”

When they arrived at a corner in the garden, the Emperor started to cough intensely, as if he had lost his breath. “Are you okay, Your Majesty?” asked the Empress, with a strong touch of care in her voice.

But the Emperor pushed her away. Fortunately, her maid was quick enough to catch her so that she didn’t fall. With tears brimming in her eyes, she looked quite puzzled, not knowing why the Emperor suddenly got so angry.

“Su, I’ve always respected your family. You know what a serious situation we are in and how could you still take it personally? As the mother of the country, you have no care for your people!” barked the Emperor, pressing his hand upon his chest. There was a sharp pain in there, he felt something pent up in his body was about to burst out.

Then, he made another paroxysm of coughing.

The Empress looked as though she was about to cry, which was pretty understandable. Because of Shen Qianshan’s report, the Su Family had undergone a completed search. For revenge, her families scattered the poison they created along every street of the capital. Anyone who inhaled it in would catch the disease, and now there were thousands of them.

No one would forget that the Empress was also distantly related to the Su Family even at a chaotic time like this.

As the daughter of Shen Qianshan’s uncle, Empress Su was actually Shen Qianshan’s cousin. But that didn’t mean she could still get good treatment after what the Su Family had done.

And there was another reason why she loathed Gu Qiang so much.

“How could you blame me that way, Your Majesty? Luoping hadn’t done anything in the previous plague, even less than her mother and sister who had donated a lot of treasure to help with the finance. She hadn’t taken out a penny! A woman like her only knows to play schemes,” argued the Empress.

But the Emperor hadn’t listened to a single word of it, he was still busy coughing.

“You just wait, I will let you learn your lesson once these things get over!” snapped the Emperor, leaving for his palace with a eunuch holding his arms.

Being left there alone, the Empress wiped her tears, her teeth gritted. Why was the Emperor still not dead? Even if she would become a widow, there was still endless treasure for her to enjoy, which wouldn’t increase just because the Emperor was still around.

The Empress got stunned by her thought. Suddenly, she wanted no more than the Emperor’s death, even if it was done by an assassin.

The next second, she got shocked by her own thought. She wished her husband to die? What would make her think that?

Once the sedan was out of the imperial palace, Gu Huaian let out a heavy sigh, feeling helpless. He wished she hadn’t dragged Gu Qiang into this.

When they got on the main street, a group of people rushed out and blocked their way. An old nanny kneeled before them and cried.

Gu Qiang lifted the hangings, and found the nanny looked quite familiar; she must be from the Gu Family, but why would they show up in here, let alone bringing so many people to block the street? This was illegal.

Seeing the sedan stop, the nanny rushed in front of them and cried to Gu Qiang, “My lady, please go home, something went wrong!”

It must be a very serious issue, or they wouldn’t have sent so many people for her. It seemed that she had no choice but to go back this time.

Gu Qiang put down the hangings and looked at Gu Huaian, then she said, “Brother, let me go home. As for the cure for the disease, you can seek some advice from the man I brought back.”

Actually, she hadn’t got time to learn about that man’s name. But he must know something as it was his family who invented the virus.

Gu Huaian wanted to say something, but then he remembered that Gu Qiang was still a member of the Gu Family. Thinking this way, he stepped into another sedan and asked those people to escort Gu Qiang back.

This time, there was nobody at the Gu Family’s gate, even the guards.

When the sedan got into the yard, Gu Qiang found Prime Minister Gu and Ye sitting in the main hall, looking very anxious.

“You are finally back, Qiang. We are now facing a serious issue,” Ye quickly got up to greet Gu Qiang, her face full of awkwardness.

She wanted to give Gu Qiang a smile, but she didn’t know whether Gu Qiang would buy it.

Prime Minister Gu was holding a cup of tea in his hand, his face grim. “Where have you been these days? You are a girl! How could you keep wandering outside all day long? Even when your sister was caught in a situation like this?” he scolded Gu Qiang with a very cold voice.

Standing high on the stage, he tried to suppress Gu Qiang with his aura.

She looked at Prime Minister Gu into his eyes, knowing perfectly well about what he meant. This had been his way to pressure her since she was young, she was already able to stay immune to it and wouldn’t be bothered at all.

“Father, just tell me what do you want me to do? I know how it feels to slander your own daughter,” answered Gu Qiang in a flat tone, although her eyes were smiling.